Dive Brief:
- Quarterbacks playing on the Detroit Lions football team will wear neon green jerseys during practice that are made from recycled components.
- Each sustainable jersey was constructed using a total of 21 recycled plastic bottles. The Lions acquired the jerseys through a collaboration with Repreve, a recycled fiber brand that finds sustainable solutions for textiles.
- Ford Field, the Detroit, MI stadium that hosts the Lions, has expanded efforts to increase the recycling rate at the sports complex by installing more recycling bins at the facility.
Dive Insight:
The stadium will have a total of 500 recycling bins available to spectators as part of its recycling initiative. The Detroit Lions are the first NFL team to partner with Repreve.
Clothing created from recycled plastics is increasingly gaining traction. A company based out of North Carolina uses plastic water bottles to transform plastic into apparel. The Dirtball brand uses 100,000 bottles to manufacture 10,000 shirts; each t-shirt is made from seven bottles.
Repreve works with other organizations, turning recycled bottles into seats for Ford Fusion vehicles (42 bottles per seat), Polartec fleeces (40 bottles per fleece) and graduation gowns (27 bottles per gown).
